Woman donates eggs in gift of life for schoolfriend

IT’S possibly the most generous gesture you could ever make for another person. And this woman did it for her lifelong friend.

KYLIE Peterson has given her best friend the ultimate gift – three precious children.

They’ve been inseparable since their school days, and when the two hit their 20s Kylie’s friend Lisa was struggling to have a baby. She was in deep despair after eight failed rounds of IVF.

PUSHING IT: Age 35 ‘too late’ for baby

CUT PRICE: Cheap IVF makes dreams come true

OBSOLETE: Women ditch men for IVF

Single and with no children of her own, Queenslander Kylie offered to donate her eggs to Lisa – giving her friend the best chance at falling pregnant.

With no legal documents and just trust between them, their tight bond turned a ­fertility nightmare into a ­success story.

Now aged in their 40s, they have five children between them and have never looked back.

“Today I have two amazing kids and Lisa’s three kids are my blood, my family but I have never looked at them as mine. We do often see similarities between her children and mine,” Kylie said.

“There are so many devastating stories where people are putting ads in the paper desperately seeking egg donors, or couples are left in pieces following surrogacy or adoption let-downs. I wanted my friend to be a mother.

“The experts predict all kinds of problems in these cases. But it was the most natural thing in the world and I was so pleased that after much psychological testing I got the go-ahead from the doctor.”

At the time of going through the egg retrieval Kylie found out she had ­polycystic ovarian syndrome and was told there was a chance that when she was ready to be a mother it may not happen.

“That made no impact on my decision to help out my friend,” she said.

“There was no legal document drawn up.

“I made the agreement that all 27 eggs retrieved would be available to Lisa and frozen for her.

“I was very lucky that I ended up not having any problem getting pregnant and I now have Kate, 10, and Ben, 6.

“Lisa has three amazing kids – a girl aged 13 and twins aged 11. Our two families have a special bond that is the best thing in the world.”

At Kylie’s wedding Lisa (pictured, far left) was matron of honour and already the mother of a little girl.

“I didn’t find that weird. I was not thinking ‘What if I can’t get pregnant?’ ”

“I was so happy for my friend,” she said.

Donor eggs are scarce and many Queensland women take out classified ads to find a donor, others turn to websites like Egg Donor Angels for help. It is illegal in Australia to be paid for egg donation but out-of-pocket expenses can be covered.

Passing her compassion down the generations, Kylie and her daughter are regular volunteers for Assist a Sista Australia, which aids families hit by domestic violence.

Originally published as Woman donates eggs in gift of life for schoolfriend